Page 17 of Tying Little Tay (Littles of Rawhide Ranch #13)
Tay
Building a sandcastle was serious work.
From the moment they’d woken up, Tay had sunk easily into Littlespace.
That wasn’t usual for them. Usually it took far longer, or the planning of a prank for them to slip into their regressed headspace.
That came with working so much; they weren’t able to be Little all the time and didn’t want to be Little all the time.
Getting to be Little with Guilia, though? That was everything .
They’d switched out of their jeans and borrowed some shorts from the other woman so that they could kneel in the sandpit and not get their clothes dirty. And now Tay was able to focus fully on sculpting the most epic sandcastle the world had ever seen.
For a Daddy, Guilia was quite relaxed, only laughing when Tay made a mess. “That’s what vacuums are for,” she’d said with a dismissive wave when Tay dug a little too vigorously and got sand everywhere. “More importantly, how many turrets are we going for?”
“Two. No, four. No, seven !”
Seven turrets seemed ambitious, but when Tay set their mind to something, nothing could stand in their way.
Life before their ADHD diagnosis had left them floundering, flitting from special interest to special interest, but now with their meds, they were able to dedicate some focus to getting things done.
They didn’t take their meds every day—ADHD meds weren’t cumulative which meant that Tay only took meds on the days when they knew that they needed to really focus on something.
They’d taken a dose that morning so that they wouldn’t get distracted and forget an important step of the cream-making, and that meant that they were slightly less frenetic when building the sandcastle.
The turrets were accompanied by a main castle structure, a bridge, and then Tay even managed to persuade Guilia that they should build a moat and fill it with water.
That briefly endangered the core structure of the castle, but with some sandy intervention, they managed to save a turret from disappearing into the water.
When they were done, the two of them stepped back to examine it.
It was a masterpiece.
Tay tapped their feet and did a happy little wiggle. “I love it,” they said. “Can I take some photos? I want to show some of the others!”
“Why don’t you invite them over to have a look at it? I’m sure that Sadie, Mandi, and Holly would love to see it in person.”
The casual way in which Guilia invited their friends into her space moved Tay.
They knew that their Daddy was quite a private person, and having lots of people in their space wasn’t something that they particularly enjoyed.
So having four excitable Littles in their space…
“Are you sure, Daddy? We can all get quite…” Tay wasn’t sure about what word to use.
Guilia laughed. “I’ve lived at Rawhide Ranch for five years, Tay, I know what Littles are like. Invite them over!”
So when classes finished for the afternoon, and Mandi was done with her shift in the Littles’ Library, the three of them descended on Guilia’s suite.
Holly and Sadie were decidedly subdued, and it wasn’t until they shot guilty looks at Guilia that Tay remembered that it had only been yesterday that they’d fed all of Guilia’s ice cream to the occupants of the Littles’ Wing for breakfast.
“Chef Guilia,” said Holly. “I’m really sorry.”
“We really really are,” said Sadie. “My Daddy was really disappointed in me.”
Guilia ruffled their hair and smiled. “I believe you. Thank you for apologizing, and just remember that my kitchen is off-limits for future pranks, please.”
They both nodded vigorously.
“Why didn’t you ask me to be a part of it?” asked Mandi.
She sounded a little bit sad, and Tay felt awful.
They gave her a huge hug. “You find lying—even about pranks—really stressful, and I knew you wouldn’t want to lie to Miss Grayson about wanting a sleepover when we were instead doing an ice-cream heist. You’re still one of my best friends; I promise!
I just didn’t want to put you in a difficult situation. ”
Mandi looked thoughtful. “That makes sense, I think I understand.”
“We’re okay?” There was a pit in Tay’s stomach that threatened to swallow them whole.
“We’re okay.” Mandi beamed at them and enveloped them in a hug. “Now, where’s this epic sandcastle?”
Mandi, Holly and Sadie all declared the sandcastle to be the greatest ever constructed, and the four of them ended up playing in the sand together. Mandi focused on detailing the windows in the turrets while Holly and Sadie attempted to storm the drawbridge while Tay defended their creation.
“Snack time!” said Guilia. She’d laid out plastic plates with fruit cut up into cute shapes for the Littles, and tumblers filled with water. “Tesore, why don’t you show your friends where they can wash up.”
They’d already fallen into a pattern together, as if they’d been cohabiting for years, as opposed to Tay having only stayed over for one night. In the bathroom, the other Littles circled them and waited expectantly.
“She’s my Daddy,” whispered Tay. “And I’m her Little.”
“Makes sense,” said Mandi and the others all nodded. “You two have had a special connection for a long time. It’s really lovely seeing you so happy.”